Directed by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, 2019
Image Credit: https://bit.ly/3wEApDN and Very Sad Pictures
“I'm sorry I'm like this”
The act of crossing out the series of nostalgic events from the past often comes off as nihilism. Some might add that, it is only cruelty that lies in the person’s heart if the self-care involves the process of discarding. A few months ago, I was reading an article on Stoicism and I remember coming across this line that said, “Remember the Impermanence”. I don’t really remember the rest of the context but what I perceived was that nothing in this world is permanent, so sometimes it is okay to let go of things that are not giving us any joy. This came to my mind as soon as I started watching the film Happy Old Year. That sense of Stoicism crippled right through me and for the rest of the film I remained vigilant. And it did right by me, I had to get it off on paper, well in my case, Microsoft word, to think and understand how it might affect my perception of letting go and self-care.
Since I have seen this director’s other feature films and a few short films as well, one thing that I personally have always noticed is that the main concept that always floats around in his narration is the custom of a place, of a community, the quirks of the characters and the brewing fixation between two generations and their distinctness. After successful experimentation in creating film essays and documentaries, such as Die Tomorrow and BNK48: Girls Always Happy, Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit finally returns to his fiction narrative style with this film, Happy Old Year, 2019.
“Some things won't go away just because you pretend to forget all about it”
After three years in Sweden, Jean (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying) finally returns to Thailand to open her own studio and transform her house into a minimalistic residence. She got interested in minimalism when she was living in Sweden and now, she decides to bring her design to life. Her dream project. The very first conflict that developed and remained almost throughout the film was the contrast between Jean’s interest in decluttering her house and her mother’s obsession with holding on to things. At the very beginning of the film, in an interview, Jean relates minimalism to the Buddhist philosophy of letting go and explains that things that are no longer useful should be discarded.
Decluttering your house
It is a very simple concept to look at if we only see the end result, that is, “decluttering your house”. I mean, look around, realize how much chaos you have created throughout your lives, and now you are stuck with things that have no importance but still live with you for the sake of memories that you probably do not want to remember or actually forgot. The process is to sort things out and sell them off or probably throw them away. How hard that can be? We are talking about things that have no value anymore.
As the operation begins, Jean finds herself in a situation that gets complex day by day. With her mother, with her old friends, and most importantly when she comes across the film camera and a few reels of her ex, Aim (Sunny Suwanmethanont) with whom she cut off all connections after leaving Thailand. In the beginning, Jean’s character irked me in some ways. Everyone has their own history to carry, their own trauma to heal from and everyone is different, so, their methods to survive are naturally dissimilar. Jean’s character portrayed a lack of compassion every time she confronted her mother (Apasiri Nitibhon). It was quite transparent to the audience that her mother was still deluded by the love for her husband, who left them. The reason remained unknown but the emotion delivered by Jean, her mother, and her brother Jay (Thirawat Ngosawang) clearly shows how much they are affected by it. The reason can be a lack of disclosure or fear of letting go.
I was not only impressed by the character arc of Jean but I actually enjoyed seeing the slow yet impactful process of her character’s transition. As a matter of fact, I found myself on my feet, away from my laptop screen, and probably hopped around my room when I saw Jean running like a mad lady behind the trader to get her stuff back that she just sold off. Jean came off as an offbeat person with her obsession with minimalism but it was understandable as the film revealed the betrayal and sadness she was carrying for a long time. All the stuff in her house reminded her of loss, regrets, and the obvious guilt. Her father’s piano has been the point of conflict in her relationship with her mother. Her hesitation in selling off the piano finally made her call her father and get the disclosure she needed to move on.
On the other hand, as she decides to confront her guilt for hurting Aim, her ex, she realizes her regrets and how she just discarded him as if he was nothing. This notion of going with the flow and choosing one thing over another conflicted with my mind as well. We all do it, we leave places behind, and we leave people behind. I can not analyze if that makes you an evil person or not but seeing Jean’s perspective made me aware of the fact once again that, it is what it is. Sometimes, we human beings do things that we can not comprehend. In the process of living life, things happen that we never plan to do. Jean was probably being hunted by the ghost of her past with Aim. She was in fact still affectionate towards him. Their story was incomplete and sad but it was practical. They don’t get back together and he finally lets out how her actions affected him, and eventually, he leaves.
Apart from the brilliant narrative, the framing did all the justice to this film. I absolutely loved the layering in the frames. The narrative was synced with the frames. It was almost like peeling off an onion, one by one. Especially with the piano. Most of the time the piano is shown from afar, through a few layers of glass walls. But during her confrontation with her father, the camera finally starts to move toward the piano and Jean. She was finally ready to let go of the pain that was inflicted by her father.
The film was an absolute influx of consciousness that I was not ready for. Reality often slaps hard especially when we are not ready for it. That was quite clear from this. This makes me want to compare the works of this particular director with Woody Allen. They are just opposites. It is almost funny to me that I am even writing this but, Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit stripes away that rose-tinted glass and throws the reality on us. Real life is heartbreaking but it is beautiful. Even though it is unpleasant to look at a few phases of life, there is pure magic in focusing on the fragments of our daily life. And Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit presented that to us in the most heart-wrenching and refreshing way possible.
Thanks for reading.